What Is the Potential Relevance of Growth and Differentiation Factor-15 in Neurologic Disease?
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review summarizing mechanism and existing literature without systematic search methodology
PubMed 40825163 · doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000214131
What was done
This narrative review summarizes the biological functions of growth and differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) and evaluates literature concerning its expression and mechanistic roles across various neurological disorders.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical data or effect sizes. It notes that circulating GDF-15 increases with aging, cellular stress, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, mitochondrial myopathy, neurodegenerative disorders, and glioma. Experimental findings suggest context-dependent effects, including potential neuroprotective actions in neurodegeneration alongside adverse roles in glioma.
Why it matters
GDF-15 reflects mitochondrial dysfunction and cellular stress, making it an emerging candidate for biomarker discovery and therapeutic exploration across neurologic pathologies.
Limits
The abstract contains no primary data, sample sizes, or quantitative meta-analytic pooling. The clinical efficacy, diagnostic accuracy, and therapeutic validity of targeting GDF-15 in human neurologic disease remain unproven.
Cited by
- supports Circulating GDF15 levels are elevated in cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.